After 24 hours on planes, we’ve made it! The flights were good and pretty smooth and the time seemed to fly by quickly. Although I’m not sure how my friends who live overseas do those long plane rides with their 3 or 4 kids! I have been thankful all day my kiddos weren’t with me =)

We are 12 hours ahead and so I am now sitting in my bed and hoping I can sleep for the night. Tomorrow we get to spend the day in this city and then get on the night train and travel North up into the mountains. I hear you can sleep pretty well on the train? I’ll let you know =) Good night from this side of the world!

Homemade pumpkin pie, decorating pumpkins, roasting and planting some seeds, dance parties, and spending the rest of the night with my hubby. A great night together before I fly out in the morning.

The next time you hear from me I’ll be in another time zone! Will you please pray for the next 24 hours for our travel? I can’t wait to tell you all about everything God teaches me and what He does while we are there. I’m expecting great things.

Yesterday, I broke the news about my upcoming trip. Today I thought I would let you in on a few of the details of our trip.

Basically we will play in the mud and then teach some classes. Not really. Well kind of. But not really. =)

One of the projects is going to be to help some local farmers. This is the “play in the mud” part of the trip. We will be trekking up into the mountains to Bac Ha. Some farmers in this village have received micro-loans from our organization and have used those loans to buy Water Buffalo, one of their most important resources. We are going to help them build some structures that will help protect these animals, and consequently the farmers’ livelihood, through the harsh winter months. While doing this, we will also be teaching the farmers’ wives English so they can speak and sell their wares at the international market.

I’m pretty excited about this aspect of the trip! Have I mentioned before how much I love physical labor? I may be weird, but I really do love it. There’s just something satisfying about working hard in the outdoors.

In addition to some physical labor and personal interactions with the farmers and their wives, we have also been invited by the director of this province to lead a teachers training conference for the teachers of the province. (hence why they needed another certified teacher!) There will be close to 100 teachers from surrounding schools at this conference. We will be splitting the teachers into groups of 25, and I will be one of the lead presenters teaching and training the teachers in life skills instruction for the students. There will be other members of this team teaching other concepts, but my focus will be to train the teachers in ways to teach the students to be self-motivated and responsible and also on communicating in an appropriate way, i.e. greeting visitors, acknowledging others.

Playing in the mud = fun. Teaching at a conference in a culture I don’t yet fully know = a little intimidating.

So the research has begun. I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking over the material and have even found some really neat sites that can help me learn a few basic Vietnamese sayings. I can’t stand traveling to a country and not be able to speak a bit of the language! My paperwork is done, I’ve applied for my visa, and scheduled all my vaccinations.

I’m preparing as much as I can, but I still need your help.

The trip costs around $2200. To be honest, that number has been what has kept me from agreeing to go before now. That number can be intimidating. But that number is nothing to God. Someone commented on the last blog post that they were excited to see how God worked out all the little details. Me too. I know God already has picked out how and who He wants to use to send me on this trip. I know He has already determined the time and place the money will come from. I know He is in control of that detail. So today I ask you to do nothing but pray and listen to the Lord. Is it you He has picked out? If not, please obey God and just continue to pray for me and for the whole team going.

If, however, God tells you to financially support this trip, you can obey by.

Emailing me at kariminter (at) gmail (dot) com OR leaving a comment on the blog or on Facebook and let me know you would like to help and we can chat from there. I would love to answer any questions

Once I hear from you, I will send you my address and you can send me any contribution you desire. The check should be made payable to NorthWood Church with my name, Kari Minter, and Bac Ha Oct 21st written on the memo line.

All contributions are tax deductible; however NorthWood will only send you a receipt if the contribution is over $200.

Thank you for all of your encouragement and love over the past few days! Your comments and support have been treasured. And thank you in advance for all your prayers and financial contributions. Like the comment from yesterday stated, I truly do look forward to watching the Lord work out and finish what He started.

It all began over coffee. Seems fitting for an adventure to begin with such a glorious thing.

Last Thursday, as I was drinking coffee with a friend, the topic of Vietnam came up. She was going on a trip in October and was praying for one more certified teacher to join this particular trip.

As she shared why she needed another certified teacher and the difficulty of finding teachers who are able to go in October, my heart began to stir. I’m a certified teacher. I am available in October. I’ve always wanted to go to Vietnam.

So the praying began. I came home that morning and casually mentioned the trip to Brent. In the flurry of getting the kids’ breakfast, Brent checking on our elderly neighbor, and then him heading to work, we didn’t get farther along in our conversation than simply, “What would we do with the kids?”

The next few hours consisted of a few texts back and forth and a lot of excitement building in my stomach. By 2pm, we had made a decision. If I could still be added to the trip I would go.

12 hours later, I had my plane tickets.

I have no money, I have no one to cover the research writing class I teach here, I have no experience in Vietnam, and I have no one to care for my children, BUT I know the Lord urged me to go, so I’m going. Obedience first; working out the details comes second.

All that backstory to share with you all I”M GOING TO VIETNAM! For 10 days at the end of October, I will be treking through the mountains of North Vietnam to do a couple different projects.

I’ll share more details in the days to come, but in the meantime, please pray! Pray for wisdom as we decide what to do with the kids while I’m gone. Pray for peace as we continue to prepare and plan for the trip in two months. Pray for guidance as the team meets Wednesday night to go over some details. Pray for freedom from stress for me as I wait to see how God is going to financially provide for this trip.

In conclusion, please pray =)

To the best of my ability, I will be blogging my way through this trip. This adventure is for all of you as well as for me, so every day I will attempt to capture the emotions and events through words and pictures so that we can all experience and see what God has done and glorify Him together.

In nine weeks, we will be embarking on an adventure of a life time! Are you as excited as I am?

check back tomorrow for details on how you can support me and specifics on what I will be doing!